That one simple shot.
'Where am I?', she asked to no one in particular as she walked through long stands of dead grass. In distance she saw something that resembled...a unicorn? 'As if, there's no such thing', she told herself as she took a few more steps towards it. The clouded-up sunshine hit the being. It's grotesque features being shown. There were blacken spikes protruding from its peeling skin, flakes of it seemed to come off whenever it titled its head slightly. Large pupil-less eyes seemed to stare into her as it ate those sickly brown plants that sprouted from the hardened ground. She stood there in complete and utter horror, letting her delicate features drop into a horrified gape. The being let out a deathly screech, its hooves pawing into the ground, which seemed to rumble as it did. Turning around on her heel she began to run towards a tall splintered tree, the only thing that appeared around her besides the rotting horse itself. She began to climb as the horse trotted closer, screeches randomly being emitted from its broken jaw. '********.' she had muttered as broken branches feel beneath her, hitting the ground of brown grass. Her fingers bled with pieces of wood sticking in and out of them. Melanie had brought herself to the highest branch, almost the most rickety, of the slender tree. Sticking her tongue out at the horse happily she let out a triumphant laugh, rocking back and forth a little. But as she looked to the left of her; there was Trace, eyes overcast and looking towards the ground. His wry smile turned upside down into a dismal frown; which was terrifying to her. 'Trace?' she asked him as she reached out a hand to get a grip on his clothing. Her ex-boyfriend seemed to let out a laugh, just before grabbing onto the hand and shoving her off of the tree branch. She had screamed her pretty little head off until... She woke up. Panting heavily will her body entangled in her sheets was a seventeen-year-old girl, far too shaken by the dream to fall back asleep.Bent over a large book at a grand oak desk was Melanie Dartmore, bright gray-blue eyes focused on the tiny print at hand, and also the dreamer of the above nightmare. Great Expectations was what she was currently reading, and hating the book with every fiber of her being. But it was very much like her to start and finish a book, even though she disliked it so. This was probably the only point of the day she would be serious; above being hyper was literature. She had great respect for people who could even write more then one hundred pages. She had tried once, made it barely past twenty-seven pages, and then gave up. The dark haired teen had already been up for six hours, having been unable to sleep after the sprinklers on her front lawn had gone off, and of course the nightmare hadn't helped one bit. Even though she had been up for so long she was still in her pajamas, which consisted of a black tank top and a pair of orange shorts, which had little suns on them. On the back of her mother's chair hung an over sized gray jacket, which had the abbreviations of her high school on it. Getting past those details though; she had been reading for about two hours now, and hating it. Though she didn't really have anything else to do at the moment. She could hear the wind whistling past her window outside, giving her room an eerie effect. She was on page three hundred and six out of six hundred and sixteen, a page number that seemed so far away. There was no one else home except a little gray kitten which was named Gray bell, very creative eh, and her little sister Samantha. The meowing of the tiny animal soon got her out of her whole reading concentration and Melanie decided to just give up for the moment.
For a second she swore she heard two voices, but smirked at the realization of who the two were. So she snuck him in, she thought with a chuckle as she walked out of her room and pressed an ear up to Samantha's door, knowing her little sister in fact knew better. Picking up the kitten that had followed her out of her room she shushed it, placing her fingers to her lips. A sly grin grew on her lips as she wrapped those slender fingers around the door handle. She cracked it open slowly, peaking in to see two teenagers younger then herself kissing furiously. Melanie rolled her eyes in amusement, stifling a loud laugh. She contemplated how to break up the two hormone crazed kids, total embarrassment or something a bit more modest. Nah, she thought, Total embarrassment seems like a fine idea. Putting on her most serious face she burst open the door, both of the younger teens looked at her with horrified glances. “Mel-Melanie.” Her sister cried, pushing herself away from the boy, whose name was Darren. Melanie shook her finger at both of them and set down the kitten. “What have I told you two! A million and one times, possibly? Do you want to have sex and make under-age babies? No. I’m so disgusted by you two. And you.” She exclaimed pointing to Darren, “Do I need to have another one on one talk with you and….Mr. Toggles?” Deep down inside everyone in the room knew that she was joking, but slightly serious at the same time. Mr. Toggles was in fact a large orange bear that she attacked the teens with the first time she had caught them, her own secret device. She was always ‘mothering’ the two teens that were on the bed, thank God still clothed. They both looked at Melanie with slightly gaped mouths, as if they couldn't believe what she had said, even though they had both heard it once before. Looking down at her feet she saw the gray kitten still there, meowing its tiny fur covered body off. "Hush please." she said as she picked it up and let it make itself comfortable in her arms.
Melanie stared at the teens for a few seconds before planning her next move, like it was some game. They'll learn what not to do and why not to do it, she thought to herself as she took a seat in Samantha's desk seat. This wasn't really what she had planned to do the morning she would be leaving, but she knew how to play the part; Act normal and then get her a** out of there. "You see you two, what you were probably going to get into after I left for a while was something naughty. Knowing two sixteen years old, like yourselves, you'd want to see how far you could go before I got back and totally beat the s**t out of Darren. Then after he left to go cry in some corner, I'd call mom and you'd be grounded for the rest of your life little sister." she said, making a few hand movements here and there. Ha, a while. Who was she kidding, it would be more than a while, as long as it took for her to be a famous model. Darren's eyes were wide, knowing that Melanie was right. Samantha moved a bit to protest the rest of her sister's speech, but Mel quickly cut her off with the next part of her story. "You two are lucky I caught you, and not mom or dad. Very, very lucky." The older teen paused for a moment before she went on, taking in a large gasp of air to sustain her talking. "Now you see Gray bell? She's just darling isn't she? Yes, absolutely adorable. BUT! She was a mistake kitten. Just like what you were going to do, mistake babies!!" she exclaimed suddenly as she picked the cat up into the air, grinning wildly. Settling the kitten back into her lap she got up. "I hope you two got the picture." she said, realizing that nothing she said had probably made sense. But something must have gotten through, since the two teens walked out into the living room and watched TV, very much apart though.
Sneaking a look at the clock she realized she was running late, her speech to Samantha and Darren having taken up far too much time of hers. Letting out a slightly childish huff she walked back into her own room, peeling off the day's pajamas. Slipping into the bathroom that connected to her room she turned on the hot water and stepped in, letting the water pound against her as she washed herself off. Wrapping a large purple towel around her figure she stepped back into her closed off room, the faint words of the TV could still be heard. A light chuckle escaped parted lips as she went over to her closet. Pulling out a blue and black plaid tube top and a pair off dark gray skinnies Melanie slipped into them, her wet hair getting her back slightly wet. Slipping into a pair of scuffed Vans she opened her room door, just to let some of the heat out of her room. Walking back into her room and flipping on the fan she bent down, fishing out a pink brush. Running it through her hair until it was detangled, which wasn't hard to do, she glanced at the mirror; bright white teeth flashing back at her. She quickly applied all the make-up for the day, including; mascara, eye shadow, lip gloss, blush, and a bit of foundation. Quickly brushing her teeth, spitting and all that good mess, Melanie found herself smiling in the mirror. Mel wouldn't be looking in her small mirror for much longer, she would be staring into a large piece of reflective glass that others like Tyra Banks have. The thoughts made her squeal with joy, nothing could be better.
After the thrilling thoughts came something sad though, it was time to write the note to her family. How she had not been wanting to do that since the idea with her best friends had come up. She didn't want to hurt her parents or sister. Mel knew her sister would have the hardest time though, how would the poor girl take care of herself? That's just it, she wouldn't. Things would go a muck and she wasn't exactly sure how pleased her parents would be with her when she came back. Melania had already packed, her things were neatly placed by her door in two large duffel bags. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she sadly smiled, it was note time. Sitting down at the desk she had been previously Mel pushed aside Great Expectations and pulled out a pad of paper and her favorite Hello Kitty pen. "Mom, Dad, and Sammy, I just wanted to tell you I'm still living. I haven't been taken or anything drastic like that. I simply left, I left and I'm coming back when I've made something of myself. There will be no use calling me and trying to make me some home. Just know you three, don't worry and I love you all very much. -Melanie" she said softly as she read the note to herself, deeming it alright. Melanie wasn't one for sappiness, it was to the point and everyone would get it.
It was time to go now, she knew it in her heart. Sliding a zebra print jacket onto her top half, which was the warmest one she had, Melanie picked up her bags and left the note on her desk. Walking out into the living room Mel smiled at the two sitting far apart from each other. "Be good you two, I'll...catch you guys when I do." she said before turning off her cell phone and walking out the door, if only she could have seen the confused sixteen year olds expressions. The model's head stayed down as she quickly paced down the block of her house, willing the coffee shop closer. When she finally looked up she saw she was already there, and so was someone else. A bright, toothy smile appeared on her face as she saw Sunny sitting there. Slowly stepping up to her friend she couldn't help but ask, "You ready fro this?"
